There’s no perfect formula for a trend. Online virality, word of mouth, celebrity endorsement, brand adoption and media buzz all play a role, especially when it comes to something taking off overnight or slowly going mainstream. As shopping editors, we’re constantly paying attention to what’s up and coming, so we’ve developed a sixth sense for micro and macro retail trends. It helps us decide which products to test before they become the next “it” thing and which topics to break down before you hear about them everywhere.
In this episode of For What It’s Worth, NBC Select’s live podcast, NBC Select editorial director Lauren Swanson and I are forecasting the top 2026 shopping trends. We’re sharing where we’re seeing them show up, how big we expect them to get and which ones we’re personally subscribing to.
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LAUREN: Welcome back.
ZOE: Today we are looking into our crystal ball and talking about trends for 2026. But I feel like it’s not such a crystal ball. I think we know. I think we’re pretty good at forecasting.
LAUREN: I think trends don’t reset at the beginning of the year.
ZOE: I could not agree more.
LAUREN: Trends have been ongoing through the past several months. Identifying trends is not a science: It’s an art. And also, I think there’s some self-fulfilling prophecy by declaring something as a trend. So take it all with a grain of salt. Our trends are ones that we’ve noticed and things picking up steam in the past few months that we think will pick up even more steam in 2026. But let’s get into it.
ZOE: Let’s chat about the first one. I have our list of our four top trends. Okay, first and foremost, we have been looking at a lot of the research that’s been coming out. One of the ones that we’ve covered is Pinterest’s Picks, which I love, because I think they do such a good job of visually showing you and telling you with words what these trends are. So one of the ones that we really have seen ourselves is the throwback kid. It’s about the whole idea of bringing back vintage-inspired things, things from the past, leaning into nostalgia. Some of the things that they said we’re going to see more of in 2026 are 1970s childhood toys and upcycled baby clothes, which I totally have seen people on Instagram and TikTok saying that they were getting a lot of baby clothes on eBay. So I think that’s really interesting.
LAUREN: That is interesting.
ZOE: I thought so, too, like designer baby clothes on eBay. Genius. Vintage kid’s fashion kind of goes along with that, too. And then nostalgic toys, 2000s toys. Where are you seeing nostalgia kind of pop up?
LAUREN: Well, I see it a lot on social media mainly. Or even in the way that people are talking about video games or TV shows, especially for kids, like slowing things down, or having a 90s kids summer, or those types of things. I don’t think that’s going anywhere.
ZOE: I agree.
LAUREN: I will always say that with any new generation, there’s a pendulum that swings where we think that there’s going to be this enormous revolution of adoption or adaptation to a new thing, especially with the internet, or AI, or social media. But ultimately, the pendulum always swings back, and the generation rejects it a little bit, or wants to get back to some sort of stasis, or some sort of comfort zone.
ZOE: I think “comfort zone” is a really great way to think about that.
LAUREN: And slowing down. I think we saw a lot of that in the pandemic, where a lot of people were going back towards things that kind of slowed them down a little bit. And I don’t think that that’s going anywhere with Gen Z, with younger generations. Definitely with millennials. I think that millennials definitely are gravitating towards, and have been gravitating towards, things that kind of slow them down. But I see it with Gen Z, too. Do you?
ZOE: Yes, absolutely. And I think the comfort of nostalgia is especially important as people are feeling insecure or unsecure with the economic situation in the world. I think that whenever there’s a little rockiness, the desire to go back to that comfortable place, whatever that is for you, whether it be the 1970s toys or the 2000s music and movies and stuff, it all starts to kind of come back into your life. You want those reminders, and those memories, I think, kind of bring you peace. And so I think especially right now, that makes a lot of sense. And I feel like with shopping, with thrifting and antiquing, Gen Z has this gravity toward things that they can touch, and feel, and see.
LAUREN: The tangible.
ZOE: Yes, and the environmental impact of consumerism, I think, is really on their minds. So I feel like that all comes together when we talk about nostalgia. And I do really love that whenever I tell my friends now, Oh, I love your jeans, or I love your boots, they’re like, Thrifted! I love that. I think that’s so fun. I feel like even with myself I’m noticing that.
LAUREN: We’ve talked about thrifting before, I feel like. But the slowness of the shopping journey is something that’s so interesting and fascinating, because it’s no longer about the end result. I feel like it’s about the experience.
ZOE: I agree with you.
LAUREN: And there’s such an experience, or a thrill of the find, or it’s a longer journey when you’re thrifting, or you’re going on eBay, or you’re shopping The Real Real, or ThreadUp or DePop. Wherever it is, it’s a longer journey to get to the end result, but it feels so much more satisfying and rewarding. And I think that with baby clothes, or vintage toys, or whatever, there’s that thrill of the find, or that thrill of feeling like you have something special.
ZOE: I agree with you. It’s one of a kind. There’s no double versions. I love that. I feel like some of my most loved home pieces and decor pieces I’ve thrifted. I have this really old antique jewelry box I found when I was away this summer in Cape Cod. And just the memory attached to that, of going with my family and going to all these antique shops together, I love looking at it and thinking about that. But then I also love thinking about, Where have you been? What was your past life? Why were you originally made? And I think that it’s so nice to give your things this second life, this new journey. And I agree with you: It is so satisfying when it’s a little bit painstaking to find what you want, because then it does make it really sweet at the end.
LAUREN: Although I will say…
ZOE: Yes, tell me.
LAUREN: With that specific trend Pinterest called out, the throwback kid, specifically around kids and babies products, you do need to be careful because regulations were different in the 70s. So watch for lead, watch for other elements and other things.
ZOE: Don’t use a 1970s car seat.
LAUREN: Oh, is there such a thing?
ZOE: Did that exist?
LAUREN: But if you can safely find products for kids that don’t have high levels of lead… That’s why I say vintage baby fashion I love, like designer stuff. I found an Oscar de la Renta coat at Goodwill for babies that I’ve just had in my closet. It was for $12. I’ve had it in my closet for the past eight years because I’m like, One day this will come in so handy.
ZOE: Yes, you have to just buy it.
LAUREN: Or vintage Ralph Lauren baby clothes.
ZOE: That’s what I’ve seen so much. I actually talked to someone recently who said that their daughter really wanted the vintage Polo sweatshirt, or whatever sweater it was. And she was like, I really immediately just went to the Polo website, because that’s what I thought she was talking about. And then I asked her, Do you know how much these are? And she said, No, Mom, I want the one from however many decades ago. I want you to get it off eBay. And she was like, for $6, you can have as many as you want. So you never know what you’re going to find, and I love that teenagers want that. I think that’s such a cool thing that’s happening right now, so I am very in favor of this trend.
LAUREN: There is some clout. I talked to my husband about this because he’s very into watches, and he’s like, It’s so hard because there’s always a new watch. You can always find something that’s bigger and more expensive, and whatever. And I’m like, Actually, I think a bigger flex is when you have such deep-cuts knowledge on vintage watches that you can find something that’s like, Oh, that’s a rare find, and I didn’t spend a ton of money. You can show a little bit more about your personality and who you are when you’re able to do more of the search and the hunt.
ZOE: I always see TikTok influencers and non-influencers, really anyone that comes across my page, do [videos about] where’d I get my jewelry from? Or, where did I get my outfit from? I love when they’re like, Oh, you know what? This set of earrings my grandma actually got for me, and she got them from her aunt a million years ago. And it’s just these things that are passed down and passed down, because it does show so much more about who you are and where you come from. I think it’s just such a cool thing that people are talking about more. I feel like I haven’t heard it as much as I have in the past couple months or so. And it does give you a little social capital to be like, Actually, this Oscar de la Renta outfit is from the 1900s, and I thrifted it for $10. You’re cool. I’m going to give you that. I think that’s a very cool thing.
The other thing Pinterest said, I want to make sure I get it right: The other thing they said about nostalgia is this idea of pen pals, which is the sweetest thing,
LAUREN: That goes back to what you were saying about tangibility.
ZOE: Yes. Getting a letter, getting snail mail. They say cute stamps, handwritten letters, snail mail and gifts. I just love the idea of someone sending you something in the mail and you don’t know what’s coming. It’s surprise. I think that’s such a lovely way to connect with people not on your phone anymore. I just love that.
Okay, this was a statistic that I found very interesting. PwCs analysis of 2026 trends, as well as the 2025 holiday season, shows that 61% of Gen Z now prefer to discover new products in store. Which I love, because I feel like a lot of people would probably assume, rightfully so, that they’re more gravitating toward finding those newer products online, on Tiktok, on Instagram. But the idea that they want to return to being pen pals, having tangible letters and having all of those fun, cute little gifts that you just send to someone and that you can actually get in the mail immediately and unwrap, that goes along with the in-person shopping. And I like that they want the discovery, like we were saying about going on the shopping journey. Because I feel like I associate Gen Z with immediate gratification. Instant gratification: I think it, I want it, I want it at my door. But knowing that there is an interest in browsing, and touching, and feeling things — I love that.
LAUREN: It’s an experience. Trends within a generation expand, eventually, beyond that generation. And I think what we’re seeing in this next year is even more appreciation and expansion of experiences, and experiential things being more important. Tangibility goes along with that. You could go online and pick something out quickly, but it’s the experience of going into the store, touching things, going up to the cashier, having them wrap it in a bag for you. I used to love in middle school when we’d go to the mall and I would carry all of the bags around. Even if it wasn’t something that I had bought, it just felt like such a flex. It felt like this was part of the experience, and I love it.
ZOE: I love it too. I love those memes when someone’s suffocating under their bags. That’s such a nice feeling as a shopper. As a shopaholic, I’ll admit it. I love it. I think it’s so fun.
LAUREN: I think the return to pen pals and the return to that slow experience is about not just sending a text, because that’s so widely available. I can do that tomorrow. But writing a note and having it take, I don’t know, a week to get to the destination, or even making that experience more enjoyable by adding the wax seals, picking out stationary and finding the right pen. It’s the whole journey of what it takes to actually write a note, or write a letter, and take time to process somebody’s words and thoughts, and look at their handwriting. There’s so much more intimacy that comes from the pen pal aspect. And I love that those subcategories within that pen pal trend are also on the rise.
ZOE: I agree. Whenever we get to the holiday season, we all start talking about our favorite stationary sets. I love hearing where people get theirs and why they pick certain designs. Are you going to go more holiday festive versus evergreen because you want it to be something they can hang up and have all year long? One of our co-workers, a couple years ago, had a really cute little calendar, and the picture of the calendar was removable, so after you flip to next month, you could take that little picture and you could frame it. And I was like, That’s such a cute thing on the brand’s part to think about the longevity of this product. But also just to know that you’re getting a little reward at the end of every month, I thought that was adorable. So maybe we saw this bubbling up a couple years ago, but we all love the cute little stationary sets, and you can customize them. And I think it’s so nice to have something more personal, like you were saying. I also feel like it does make you think to yourself, Do I know where this person lives? Have I ever seen their handwriting before? Those things can, I think, form a deeper connection than a text or an Instagram DM or whatever.
LAUREN: Did you have to take handwriting in school?
ZOE: I think I was in the last grade actually…
LAUREN: That learned cursive?
ZOE: At my school that learned cursive. Because I was so upset about that, that they would really lose the art of cursive. And I remember in middle school, I had learned that I was in the last grade, and I got so upset about it.
LAUREN: That’s such a Zoe thing to get upset about.
ZOE: You know me. You know I would get upset about that. Then in high school, I did an investigation for our school newspaper about it. And I talked to the Superintendent. I was like, Why did you do this? And then they were saying, literally, he was like, I’m so sorry to say but, we don’t have the budget to teach us anymore. And I was like, Wow, that is a huge loss. And now my little cousin, because my aunt writes all of her notes in cursive, they can’t read them. I was like, This is crazy. So write notes to your friends in cursive. Challenge their brain. It’s a brain exercise.
LAUREN: One time, this is a side note, but one time, my little brother, I was — he’s not so little anymore — but at the time, I was like, Can you read my mind? And he goes, No, I can’t read cursive.
ZOE: Oh my God.
LAUREN: I was both impressed at the quickness of the response, but then also really upset.
ZOE: You’re like, I’m laughing at you, but we need to have a discussion about this after.
LAUREN: I was like, I need all of the books to be in cursive.
ZOE: I mean, I might use that. Tell him. I might steal that. Although I can recursive.
Okay, another trend that Pinterest is identifying for 2026, but also I feel like I’ve seen this on a bunch of other travel sites, like Expedia and things like that, is the concept of a dare-cation.
LAUREN: Which goes back to the experiences.
ZOE: Exactly. But this is not just a vacation. This is not lounging on the beach and sipping a strawberry daiquiri. This is an experience, a once in a lifetime adventure. I am obsessed with this. Some of the examples they gave were auto racing events — can’t say I’ve been to one, but I would like to — and river rafting. Have you done that? White water rafting?
LAUREN: No, but my husband’s family used to go all the time, and they have a very memorable picture of when his mom got thrown off the raft. And he and his brothers were very young at the time, and his dad was on the boat, and that was like….
ZOE: Were they laughing?
LAUREN: No, they weren’t laughing, but the moment that the river rafting crew took the picture was when she had fallen off the boat. And so they all have horror on their faces.
ZOE: Mom down. Mom down.
LAUREN: It’s memorialized. It’s hanging on their wall. It’s hilarious.
ZOE: Not only are these dare-cations experiential, but because a lot of these Gen Zers — do I want to put myself in this bucket? I am Gen Z. I might have to.
LAUREN: But you’re also grandma Zoe.
ZOE: Exactly, I’m also grandma Zoe, which I just feel like is the best compliment I could receive. But they all want to be social influencers. And when you go on a dare-cation and you post yourself, zip lining, white water rafting, whatever it is, the possibility of going viral is there. So I feel like it kind of ties into everybody wanting to be a social pop star too, which I found fascinating. I think that’s two interesting things: You have the experience of wanting to do things in-person and wanting to not be on your phone, but then you also have the group that, I think can overlap sometimes, that wants to capture the moments to potentially go viral. I think it’s fascinating to think about.
LAUREN: Ultimately, it’s thrill. It’s the thrill of the experience, or thrill of the journey of saying we’re going to slow this down and enjoy the thrill of it being slow. And then it’s also the thrill of the adrenaline rush and the thought of, I may die on the I may die on this zipline.
ZOE: But I might get a million views on TikTok.
LAUREN: Would you ever go…
ZOE: Grandma Zoe. Remember who you’re talking to.
LAUREN: Would you ever jump out of an airplane? What is that called? Skydiving.
ZOE: No. In fact, my dad, really badly, I think, for his 50th birthday, all he wanted to do was jump out of an airplane. I kid you not, when he told me this, I cried. I cried. I found that horrifying. I was like, Dad, you can’t do it. You’re going to die. You’re going to break all your bones. I’m that person. Thankfully for me, because he was going to do it, it was Covid. So sorry, Dad, you can’t do it. And I tell him now, that would just be crazy. But I would never do that. Would you?
LAUREN: I’ve thought about it.
ZOE: Really?
LAUREN: I don’t think that I would actually go through with it. Zip lining, totally fine.
ZOE: I agree. Zip lining, I’m down.
LAUREN: You know, bungee jumping? I don’t know that I would do that.
ZOE: Like, off a bridge?
LAUREN: Yes, off a bridge. I don’t know if I would do that.
ZOE: I’m not a heights person.
LAUREN: What were the other ones? Auto racing? That one seems cool. I have done go kart races and I am the slowest one. I’m the safest, slowest driver.
ZOE: I’m driving at five miles an hour.
LAUREN: I get lapped multiple times, so I don’t know that auto racing, if I was the driver, would ultimately be a thrill.
ZOE: Would you want to go to a race? One of those professional races? I think that’d be sick.
LAUREN: I don’t see why I wouldn’t. I don’t feel like that’s a dare though. I would go.
ZOE: That’s true, that’s true. That’s more of just an experience.
LAUREN: It’s an experience, I think. But if you were to go to an auto racing thing and they had sports cars, and they were like, do you want to try and go really fast? I think I would go the minimum speed.
ZOE: I’d be like, I’d love to try the Maserati, but I would like to be going 15 miles an hour. And I just want to experience what it’s like, smell the new car smell, and that’s about it. That’d be me. That would be checking off the box for me. I’d be good. I’m fine with that.
LAUREN: I feel the same way about ATVing, or any of that stuff. I totally would be like, I’ll do it, that sounds so fun. And then when push comes to shove, if I’m riding with somebody and they’re like, Do you want to drive? I’m like, No, you can drive.
ZOE: You can do it. You can take it from here.
LAUREN: I don’t need to.
ZOE: I’ll be the passenger. Thank you so much.
LAUREN: I would panicked the entire time. I would be stressed. Jet skiing?
ZOE: Oh, I went one time.
LAUREN: I’m shaking, and I’m tense the entire time.
ZOE: I’m holding on so, so, so hard that I feel it in my shoulders for days after. That’s me. And I think, on the topic of experiences, we’ve talked about this a lot, especially this year, we’ve seen such a push toward gifting experiences, which I love. I’m a pro experience gifter. My mom actually told me recently that my wish list for the holiday season wasn’t very helpful because I just wanted to do stuff. And she’s like, What am I going to put in your stocking? I’m like, a note that says we’re going to go do this? I love doing things, especially with people that I love, and especially if it’s someone that you don’t get to do things with that often, like if you’re both really busy or something. I think that’s so much fun. And having the experience as a gift, plus it being thrilling, what a better bonding experience?
LAUREN: And going to a destination to do it, too. Oh
ZOE: But you know what they say: Traveling with someone reveals their true colors, so you’ve got to make sure it’s someone you really can tolerate.
LAUREN: But then you trauma bond over the dare-cation.
ZOE: Exactly. Actually, a couple of years ago, my friend was living in Jackson Hole, and I’d never been. And I was like, I want to visit you. I’ve never been to Jackson Hole. It looks beautiful, whatever. I’ll come. He’s like, Okay, I’m going to plan our whole weekend. And I was like, Okay. I knew he was a bit of a thrill seeker, but I don’t think I knew how much of a thrill seeker. And then we went white water rafting. We went on this 16 mile hike straight up the Tetons. I was, he will tell you, I was quite literally having a panic attack at the top of that mountain. And I was like, You know what? I did it. I’m so glad that I did it. I will never be seeking this thrill again. No more dare-cation for me in Jackson Hole. I’ve done it. So it does definitely put you outside your comfort zone, which is good. It teaches you things about yourself. I’m not a hiker.
LAUREN: Now you know.
ZOE: Now I know.
Okay, our last trend of coming into 2026. And this is one that we know and we love, and this is not, I don’t think, new at all, but we’re seeing it really take off. It’s the concept of health wearables. So your smart rings, your Oura Rings, your Apple Watches, your Garmins, all of that. One of the things we’re seeing, which I thought was really interesting, was that not only are people wearing these, but they’re actually changing their life because of it. So from the New Consumer, they said that among active users of health tracking devices, 38% have started or changed exercise routines, 35% have modified their diet or meal timing, and 35% have changed sleep schedules. I thought it’s really cool there’s genuine action being taken when you’re looking at this data. You don’t wear a watch or a ring, do you?
LAUREN: I only wear a watch when I’m running or doing an activity. I don’t wear it consistently throughout the day. I don’t have a problem with it. I definitely do love every time I go to the doctor and get a blood test. I could open those test results 15 times a day because it feels like I’m reading my horoscope or taking a personality quiz. I’m like, tell me something about my body that I didn’t know. Tell me what my blood percentage is at this moment. Tell me all of this stuff. I find that stuff really, really interesting because it does feel like it’s revealing a part of you that you’re not totally tapped into, or it gives you answers to reasons why you might be feeling a certain way. But I think that the negative side to that, that I like not having access to that, or being too deep into that, is that it maybe tells too much about yourself.
ZOE: That’s me.
LAUREN: Then it becomes a little bit of, Oh, your numbers or your counts are off today, and then you start to feel extra a certain way. Like, you got poor sleep, so your score is this…
ZOE: So then you’re in a bad mood all day.
LAUREN: Yes, and you’re like, My score is this, so I’m going to have a bad day. And it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy a little bit, or you can get too neurotic about the data.
ZOE: You are describing me. I wear my Apple Watch every day. I love my Apple Watch. Closing my rings? The best part of my day is when Apple Watch cheers for me. Amazing.
LAUREN: Do you have a desire for high achievement, Zoe?
ZOE: Can you tell? It’s an eldest daughter thing. I cannot look at any of the data. I do not look at anything other than my circles, my rings, and I look at my running stats and my workout stats, because I find that interesting. I don’t wear it to bed. I turn off the health features. It freaks me out, because I’m the person that sees one little wrong score, and then I just think that I’m dying of a disease. So I can’t look at that kind of stuff. I love the trackers for fitness related things and everyday life things, but I’m one of those people who actually wants less information. So I gravitate towards the wearables that let you turn things off because there’s some that don’t. That’s why I love my Apple Watch so much. But one thing it was saying as I was reading through this report — McKinsey put out a Future of Wellness Trends Report, and one of the things I thought was really interesting is that they said that all generations are into these wearables, but especially younger generations because they feel like it’s helping them deal with burnout, worse health conditions due to stress and increased exposure to wellness trends on social media. They want to be a part of it. I didn’t make that connection until I was reading that report, so I thought that was really interesting.
So those are our 2026 crystal ball trends. Are there any others that are top of mind for you? I feel like those are the big ones I was thinking about.
LAUREN: Those are the big ones, especially the ones that pertain to shopping and younger generations. I think that there’s the micro-trends, the different things in different categories, but I think the overarching trends…
ZOE: Themes that we’re seeing.
LAUREN: It’s all about experiences and tangibility.
ZOE: Like you were saying about micro-trends, I love when a micro-trend becomes a macro-trend. I’m excited to keep track of those this year. We have a trending channel that we love, and we put in our thoughts all year. And I love when someone puts in just kind of a fleeting thought, and then all of a sudden, two months later, everyone’s dying over this thing. And then we’re like, You predicted the future. So what can we say? We’re experts. We really do, we know we’re doing. So those are our trends, our shopping trends for 2026.
LAUREN: Let us know if you have any 2026 trends, or what you’re seeing.
ZOE: Oh yes, I want to hear.
LAUREN: Or if you think that we’re completely wrong,
ZOE: Which I would welcome.
LAUREN: I would love to be wrong.
ZOE: I love a devil’s advocate. Please tell us. All right, we’ll see. Thank you.
LAUREN: Bye
I’m a reporter at NBC Select and I co-host our live podcast, For What It’s Worth, with editorial director Lauren Swanson. In this article, I summarize Episode 12: 2026 Trends. I included a summary of the episode, a transcript, products we recommend during the podcast and related articles.
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